Late nights at the rock clubs?

If you're out tonight (and into tomorrow morning), you'll notice that they'll wait an extra hour to make you dump out the rest of that PBR can and get your sorry self out of the club.

In case you've been living under a rock somewhere, Omaha bars are allowed to stay open until 2 a.m. starting overnight tonight.

Will it affect your concertgoing experience? Maybe.

"We're going to be open until 2 a.m.," Marc Leibowitz (of One Percent and Waiting Room fame) told me.

But most shows aren't going to change that much.

"Weekday shows are going to stay exactly the same. Our normal shows are going to be 9 o'clock shows. We're not going to be doing any 10 o'clock shows," he said.

If there's four bands on a lineup, maybe they'll add a fifth band since there's more wiggle room as far as closing time is concerned. But to break it down, shows will start at the same time and, for the most part, you won't have to stay at the club until 2 to catch the headliner's set.

The only things that are planned to go extra late are dance parties such as Goo and Gunk.

* * *

Tonight, I'll be hitting up Slowdown and the Barley Street (and maybe the Waiting Room for the comedy show) to see if anything's happening with the 2 a.m. stuff. Oh, and to check out the good music.

Of special note is the show at Barley Street, which is a fundraisier for the Benson Musician's Hostel.

What is the hostel? It's run by Brad Hoshaw and is a place to stay for the dozens of musicians and bands that play in Benson during any given week.

I think it's a great idea and tonight's your chance to help out. Music starts at 9 tonight and features Chad Wallin, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, Hoshaw, Jake Bellows, Justin Lamoureux, Cass Brostad and Andrew Bailie. $5 gets you in and there will be a donation jar on the bar.

SXSW: Play like it's your last

I got a late start today because of some issues with my hotel (note: if you ever come down here, stay as close to downtown as you can).
I write this as I stand in an epic line to see The xx. They sounds decent from outside.
Anyway, I caught Digital Leather this afternoon at Beerland, which looks like someone's garage, complete with cinder block walls, faded paint and manga comics lining the stage wall.
They were good, blasting out synthy punk and Shawn Foree writhing all over the stage. They played some new stuff, which Foree said is on a completed new album. Foree hopes (he used more colorful language) the Fat Possum will release it, but he's confident that it will see the light of day with or without them.
I ran into Chris Aponik there (he writes for The Reader) and also local singer-songwriter Brad Hoshaw, who is in town as a fan, not a performer. Most Omahans that I've seen in one place.
Next, I headed to The Jackalope where I caught the tail end of Little Brazil. They're busting their asses this year, handing out download cards and recruiting for their shows. Guitarist Greg Edds (who is playing on a broken foot) talked about how they treat these shows like any other - "play like it's your last," he said.
At the same time, Edds talked about how it's important to get people to watch you - you never know when someone important is watching (booking agents, equipment reps, bloggers, record label people). That's why it's good, he said, to play your ass off. You never know when the right person is watching.

Best thing I've seen all week

In the midst of figuring out my schedule for SXSW (Yes, I'll be in Austin later this week), I was looking through Twitter. That's when I ran across this post:

bradhoshaw: A friend at the bar challenged me to cover TiK ToK by KE$HA.

He did. And it was awesome. Well played, Hoshaw. Well played indeed.

Here it is, folks, for your enjoyment...

Headlines! 311, Brad Hoshaw and more

It's Monday. And you know what that means, right? Oh yeah... music headlines.

Feast on music news!

• 311 is going to live webcast their 311 Day performance (March 11... 3-11... get it?) from Las Vegas. The marathon show typically lasts around 5 hours.

• Apparently, EMI isn't going to sell Abbey Road Studios after all.

• Brad Hoshaw played in-studio over the weekend for The Daily Grind. Check it out.

• The Lollapalooza lineup was leaked (again). Looks like Green Day, Lady Gaga and Soundgarden. Also looks like I might be going back.

• Paramore has a new video. If you didn't know, they're coming to town in May.

• Coldplay is talking about a new album.

• Lil Wayne opened up a Twitter acount. Allow me a moment to contain my excitement...

• I've never seen it, but apparently Of Montreal's live show is crazy crazy. A documentary is going to, uh, document it.

• You gotta check out this piece on mixtapes and how the cassette culture has evolved.

• Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 talks about how he prepares for the road.

• The New Pornographers have a new song out. Does Neko Case ever sleep?

• Local station, 89.7 The River, announced the lineup for their annual Rockfest: Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Papa Roach, Hellyeah, Skillet, Halestorm. I have no idea who those last three are. And didn't I see Papa Roach at Rockfest about nine years ago? Pretty sure I did. Details at The River's site.